The 4ft long monster, named Barry, had launched a sustained attack on the reef in a display tank at Newquay`s Blue Reef Aquarium over recent months.
Workers wondered why the coral had been left devastated and - in some cases - cut in half. After staking out the display for several weeks, the last resort was to completely dismantle it, rock by rock.
Halfway through the process the predator was revealed as a four-foot polychaete worm.
